Why the Hostility and Apathy?

Maybe it's a general internet forum thing owing to the anonymity which screen names afford and it might be only a few posters who respond all the time but I'm often surprised at the hostility in response to someone posting a simple question on the boards. This hasn't happened to me personally because I'm smart enough to research my dumb questions online before posting here but over and over again I see a newbie post a question and the sarcasm comes out in spades. Seriously if your life is so painful you have to attack someone who is on your side in the 2A fight you should get outside and grab some fresh air and spend less time on the keyboard.

Apathy at Election Time; if we as a whole supported ANYONE other than the anti 2A elected officials we wouldn't have the ones we do now, but instead I hear over and over again (and this is in the real world too) "What's the point in voting?" That's giving up my friends, before the fight has even started.

We need to take stock as a group and realize we need our fellow members on our side, that this is a cause bigger than anyone of us, that keeping our rights is at stake and while we can all share the mentality that they won't take our arms unless our pulse has stopped it's going to be a lot more productive to defend those rights if we stand together, if we support each other and give our fellow supporter the benefit of the doubt, the right to ask stupid questions, the freedom to take those first steps towards being part of the right side of this fight and to join us with open arms and the brother (and sister) hood of understanding the importance of never giving up.

Go cuddle up in your safe space with a nice warm glass of milk and some cookies.

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And do what, obsess about my sarcastic tendencies, or my political indifference? Sounds like a great way to end up triggered. I need a safe space with puppies, or maybe some sort of spoken word component to keep my mind from drifting toward unpleasant thoughts.

Maybe it's a general internet forum thing owing to the anonymity which screen names afford and it might be only a few posters who respond all the time but I'm often surprised at the hostility in response to someone posting a simple question on the boards. This hasn't happened to me personally because I'm smart enough to research my dumb questions online before posting here but over and over again I see a newbie post a question and the sarcasm comes out in spades. Seriously if your life is so painful you have to attack someone who is on your side in the 2A fight you should get outside and grab some fresh air and spend less time on the keyboard.

Apathy at Election Time; if we as a whole supported ANYONE other than the anti 2A elected officials we wouldn't have the ones we do now, but instead I hear over and over again (and this is in the real world too) "What's the point in voting?" That's giving up my friends, before the fight has even started.

We need to take stock as a group and realize we need our fellow members on our side, that this is a cause bigger than anyone of us, that keeping our rights is at stake and while we can all share the mentality that they won't take our arms unless our pulse has stopped it's going to be a lot more productive to defend those rights if we stand together, if we support each other and give our fellow supporter the benefit of the doubt, the right to ask stupid questions, the freedom to take those first steps towards being part of the right side of this fight and to join us with open arms and the brother (and sister) hood of understanding the importance of never giving up.

We can be better than the triggered other side
.

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Spot on observation, couple this with the f***tards complaining about things like disabled people in retail stores or metal bits in stuffing and this is why I quit. I doubt if i'll be back. NES used to be a great place for information. Not anymore. Enjoy your shithole of a"firearms" forum..

Spot on observation, couple this with the f***tards complaining about things like disabled people in retail stores or metal bits in stuffing and this is why I quit. I doubt if i'll be back. NES used to be a great place for information. Not anymore. Enjoy your shithole of a"firearms" forum..

Spot on observation, couple this with the f***tards complaining about things like disabled people in retail stores or metal bits in stuffing and this is why I quit. I doubt if i'll be back. NES used to be a great place for information. Not anymore. Enjoy your shithole of a"firearms" forum..

Generally speaking gun owners, particularly in MA, are are fragile flowers who lack intestinal fortitude and are laughably easy to trigger. The show of hostility from behind anonymous screen names is just a defense mechanism, like a dog barking from behind a closed door. They flock here because they have nowhere else to go. Don’t worry about those people - they are of no consequence.

I'm far from apathetic but I am very hostile and angry. This condition stems from living in a State that hates me and having politicians who not only constantly take shots at me but are openly hostile and disdainful to my freedoms and beliefs. I'm angry because I have to listen to clueless Libs tell me I'm an animal while they celebrate killing babies and censorship for any speech THEY find offensive and that's just the tip of the iceberg. This is a tough crowd so either suck it up buttercup or move on.

Generally speaking gun owners, particularly in MA, are are fragile flowers who lack intestinal fortitude and are laughably easy to trigger. The show of hostility from behind anonymous screen names is just a defense mechanism, like a dog barking from behind a closed door. They flock here because they have nowhere else to go. Don’t worry about those people - they are of no consequence.

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Really? How can anonymous hostility be a "defense mechanism" when there's nothing to defend?

I think you have it exactly backwards, the problem is the thin-skinned people who take offense at what is mostly harmless give and take for entertainment only. I can only think of one or two people who appear to show actual malice.

Really? How can anonymous hostility be a "defense mechanism" when there's nothing to defend?

I think you have it exactly backwards, the problem is the thin-skinned people who take offense at what is mostly harmless give and take for entertainment only. I can only think of one or two people who appear to show actual malice.

Just dive in and don't take anything (too) personally.

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They’re defending their own inadequacies. For example look at the Gillette thread. Lots of wailing and gnashing of teeth over a stupid commercial that in some way challenges their personal perception of masculinity. So much energy expended to virtue signal to the other anonymous cowards, zero energy expended to improve our collective situation. So many triggered snowflakes.

That avatar is as cuddly as I get.
Make no mistake-- this post was not because I felt triggered, it's the surprise of how thin-skinned and angry some members are. Those of you who get what I'm saying are not the one's I'm pointing at.
I see a true brotherhood of those of us supporting the 2A here in this socialist corner of the US, even towards the ones quick to lash out. We're all in this together.

They’re defending their own inadequacies. For example look at the Gillette thread. Lots of wailing and gnashing of teeth over a stupid commercial that in some way challenges their personal perception of masculinity. So much energy expended to virtue signal to the other anonymous cowards, zero energy expended to improve our collective situation. So many triggered snowflakes.

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Unless you know the people personally this is pretty much just your assumption. How about just a bunch of old dudes with time on their hands?

1) This is a New England gun forum with mostly older guys who have jaded views of the world due to being conservative/libertarian in a very progressive part of the country. New England humor, at least good, traditional, working class New England humor, is very dry, sarcastic, and offensive. Dry, sarcastic, and offensive humor does not translate well online. I have to tone down what I really want to write by a good amount. Especially in regards to the motherf***ing expletives, you [blankety] [blanking] Ma**h*** [four letter word].

2) Online conversations are typically argumentative. OP posts something. People can agree or disagree. This forum lacks a "Respectfully Disagree" button (I've seen those, in addition to "Helpful") like others I know. Consequently, we see more disagreement rather than agreement unless you were to sit down and count likes.

3) Gun owners are typically individualists. Herding an ideologically diverse group of individualists is not going to go well. We are who we are because we think for ourselves and deal with enormous amounts of bullshit every day at work, in the media, and with friends and family.

4) Like mibro posted, a lot of what you see here and on other forums is old guys with time and a keyboard. People LOVE to complain. In particular, New Englanders more than other Americans like to criticize rather than "rally together." Some people on here post that when they go to places like California, simple well-meaning conversation can upset the natives.